Flexible lid designed to fit and seal on various beverage containers

ABSTRACT

A reusable, flexible beverage lid designed to fit various beverage containers includes a drink through cover portion having a generally circular periphery and a flexible sidewall with a profile enabling sealing against varying dimensioned beverage containers. 
     The shape of the sidewall profile allows the lid to reliably seal and be easily assembled against various beverage containers and is generally consistent circumferentially. 
     The lid design is such that it can be scaled radially to fit a further amount of beverage containers.

REFERENCES CITED

U.S. Patent Documents Number Date Inventor 7,806,044 Oct. 5, 2010 Shin-Shuoh Lin 7,784,641 Aug. 31, 2010 Shin-Jai Chou 7,779,751 Aug. 24, 2010 Tyler Sean Gilbert 7,611,029 Nov. 3, 2009 Joseph Cheuk Mau Wong 7,578,231 Aug. 25, 2009 Yiu Ching Lin 7,556,172 Jul. 7, 2009 Marvin Lane 7,537,129 May 26, 2009 George Leonard Bayss, Marcel Miller 7,527,165 May 5, 2009 Richard C. Didato 7,513,382 Apr. 7, 2009 Brian Norman Clarke, Peter Robert Wills, Nigel Frank Taylor 7,484,639 Feb. 3, 2009 Milan C. Maravich, Jeffrey A. Mann, David J. Jochem 7,484,638 Feb. 3, 2009 Ivonis M. Mazzarolo 7,351,467 Apr. 1, 2008 Greg E. Blonder 7,318,536 Jan. 15, 2008 Milan C. Maravich, Jeffrey A. Mann, David J. Jochem 7,299,940 Nov. 27, 2007 Jill Portman, Gary Shinner 7,189,134 Mar. 13, 2007 Timothy James Nugent, Leon James Scott III 7,185,781 Mar. 6, 2007 Constance Linda Pitts 7,175,043 Feb. 13, 2007 Shawn O″Neal 7,140,510 Nov. 28, 2006 Jill Portman, Gary Shinner 7,111,749 Sep. 26, 2006 Paul Akers 7,063,224 Jun. 20, 2006 Brian Norman Clarke, Peter Robert Wills, Nigel Frank Taylor 7,055,715 Jun. 6, 2006 Milan C. Maravich, Jeffrey A. Mann, David J. Jochem 6,991,128 Jan. 31, 2006 Robert Russo, Robert Kichinski 6,976,578 Dec. 20, 2005 Antony Austin Kenihan 6,932,231 Aug. 23, 2005 Kevin Haynes, Michael Pallotta 6,929,143 Aug. 16, 2005 Ivonis M. Mazzarolo 6,905,044 Jun. 14, 2005 Robert Russo, Robert Kichinski 6,889,860 May 10, 2005 Ivonis M. Mazzarolo 6,889,859 38,482 Richard Joseph Leon 6,886,707 May 3, 2005 Jean Pierre Giraud 6,845,703 Jan. 25, 2005 Marco Ugolini 6,763,964 Jul. 20, 2004 Gary A. Hurlbut 6,752,287 Jun. 22, 2004 Shin-Shuoh Lin 6,742,670 Jun. 1, 2004 Jill Portman, Gary Shinner 6,732,882 May 11, 2004 Domenic Belcastro 6,729,494 May 4, 2004 Jill Portman, Gary Shinner 6,722,518 Apr. 20, 2004 Douglas Michael Bartz 6,702,138 Mar. 9, 2004 Andy Bielecki, Brian Furlong, Michael Jensen, Tim Nowack 6,659,302 Dec. 9, 2003 Shin-Shuoh Lin 6,612,456 Sep. 2, 2003 Bobby V. Hundley 6,502,693 Jan. 7, 2003 David Richard Percival 6,488,173 Dec. 3, 2002 Michael Milan 6,464,099 Oct. 15, 2002 Jill Portman 6,460,725 Oct. 8, 2002 Jill Portman 6,431,390 Aug. 13, 2002 David B. Waller 6,390,749 May 21, 2002 Jong Hoon Song 6,386,814 May 14, 2002 Jong Hoon Song 6,374,726 Apr. 23, 2002 Bruce W. Melton 6,360,885 Mar. 26, 2002 John A. Krueger 6,349,846 Feb. 26, 2002 Robert B. Meza 6,318,584 Nov. 20, 2001 Michael Milan 6,314,866 Nov. 13, 2001 Bruce W. Melton 6,290,084 Sep. 18, 2001 Chun Chiu Louie 6,279,773 Aug. 28, 2001 Hozumi Kiyota 6,220,476 Apr. 24, 2001 David B. 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DESCRIPTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a reusable lid for beverage containers and more particularly to a flexible, reusable elastomer lid having flexible walls to seal against various beverage containers.

2. Background of the Invention

Typical reusable beverage containers termed “ceramic mugs” are available in various sizes within a specific range and a generally common cylindrical shape and rim thickness but do not include mating lids for transport. These specific beverage containers are typically used at their permanent locations and are enjoyed due to their low cost, aesthetic, flavorless, ease of use, and personable qualities.

Many other reusable beverage containers intended for transporting beverages are mated with a removable and reusable lid to contain the beverage. The lid typically has a generally fixed dimension and sealing mechanism and is intended solely for its mating container. These containers typically sacrifice aesthetic and personable qualities and often add a metallic flavor due to their stainless steel construction. Additionally, these containers are difficult to clean and heat the intended liquids in microwave ovens and are typically expensive.

Finally, many disposable cups with mating lids exist but are either currently not recyclable or capable recycling facilities are not readily available. Especially considering the transportable beverage consumption rate of the general public, this limitation is increasing waste and impacting the environment.

Accordingly, a need exists for a reusable lid for beverage containers with these aesthetic, flavorless, ease of use, low cost, and personable qualities. The lid should be sufficiently flexible to fit and seal against the majority of available beverage containers that are not mated with lids and to minimize the amount of sizes required to market the product effectively. In addition, the lid should be relatively inexpensive to manufacture relative to other beverage containers with lids, and easy to assemble, clean, and store. Finally the solution should be sustainable by promoting reduction in overall material and energy consumption and reuse. The present invention addresses such needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, a reusable, flexible beverage lid includes a cover portion having a generally circular periphery. The cover portion comprises a drink opening adjacent to the periphery and a general pooling feature to capture any exited fluids not drank by the user which allows drainage back into the beverage container. The cover portion also generally includes vent holes to allow steam to escape and drainage from the pool feature. A flexible outer sidewall is homogeneously integrated with the cover portion, wherein its profile enables easy assembly and sealing against varying dimensioned beverage containers. This profile is generally consistent circumferentially to form the sealing portion of the lid against the generally consistent outer rim surface of various sizes of beverage containers. The sidewall consists of a surface area sufficient to comfortably and confidently push the lid onto beverage containers. The cross sectional design of the profile translates the vertical force into horizontal deflection and tensile stress into a sealing radial force without excessively collapsing vertically before establishing a seal. The profile of the sidewall has at least one rib which is vertically offset from the underside of the lid allowing further flexibility as the offset increases. This rib's generally circular cross section allows for easy assembly and resistance to unseating of the lid during or after assembly due to tensile stress within the stretched profile of the lid. The sidewall has an outer profile which has a relief feature accommodating collapse of the outer wall which allows further flexibility of the inner sealing rib within acceptable assembly efforts and a guide feature enabling centering during assembly and an inherently obvious feature for the user to grasp during assembly. A rim seat exists between the sidewall and the inner wall where the lid sits onto the rim of the beverage container. The lid has an inner wall which provides circumferential and radial stiffness when the outer sidewall is being stretched during assembly which consists of an inner seating feature that enables centering during assembly and an additional sealing surface. Additionally the inner wall has an inner baffle that minimizes beverage splash against the sealing surfaces. This lid can be scaled radially to increase the versatility of the lid.

In another embodiment, the cover of the lid has a plurality of retention features for a circumferential band wrapping around the purely cylindrical portion of the cover.

In another embodiment, the cover of the lid has a sufficient depression on the top face of the cover to allow for flush assembly of a separate personalized flat piece.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary reusable, flexible lid according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a top view of an exemplary reusable, flexible lid according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side view along line 1-1 of FIG. 2 of an exemplary reusable, flexible lid according to one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional side view focus of the sidewall of an exemplary reusable, flexible lid assembled (illustrating lid deflection) to an exemplary beverage container according to one embodiment (beverage container not claimed);

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an exemplary reusable, flexible lid according to several embodiments;

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a reusable lid for beverage containers and more particularly to a flexible, reusable lid having flexible walls to seal against various beverage containers. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment and the generic principles and features described herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.

According to one embodiment, the reusable lid has a flexible sidewall that has a consistent cross section circumferentially around the lid. The lid can be grasped by the tapered guide feature and pulled outward by the user or simply pushed on the beverage container (typically a ceramic mug). During assembly to the beverage container, the outer sidewall of the lid flexes outwardly to surround the outside surface of the beverage container. During this assembly, the rib performs a seal on the outside of the beverage container with the tensional force within the sidewall created during assembly.

Due to the versatility of the present invention, the flexible lid can be assembled to various different beverage containers. The lid allows the user to transport their beverage containers with their desired qualities (aesthetics, flavorless, ease of use, personable) that do not normally include a lid.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a reusable, flexible lid according to one embodiment of the present invention. The reusable lid 100 comprises of a cover portion 200 including a drink opening 210, pool feature 220, and vent holes 230. The reusable lid 100 also comprises of a homogeneously integrated sidewall 300 that extends longitudinally from the cover.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an exemplary flexible lid according to one embodiment of the present invention. The cover portion 200 has a generally circular periphery 205 and includes a drink opening 210 adjacent to the periphery 205 that allows the user to drink from the beverage container without removing the lid 100.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side view of a flexible lid 100 along line 1-1 of FIG. 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As is shown, the sidewall 300 includes a profile design including at least one rib 305, relief feature 310, and guide feature 315. Additionally, as is shown, the inner wall 400 includes an inner seating feature 405 and inner baffle 410. Additionally the rim seat 500 is shown. The sidewall extends downward longitudinally. The distance between the rib 305 and rim seat 500 can be increased to increase the flexibility and height of the design to accommodate more beverage container sizes with one particular marketable size of lid. The guide 315 is shown with a tapered shape to allow centering and easy grasping by the user.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional side view focus of sidewall 300 from FIG. 3. of a flexible lid 100 assembled to an exemplary beverage container 700 according to one embodiment of the present invention which illustrates lid deflection. The rib 305 maintains contact with the outer surface of the beverage container.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an exemplary reusable, flexible lid according to several other embodiments. Retention feature 600 enables retention of a personalized band circumferentially around the cover portion 200. The recessed surface of the cover portion 200 includes sufficient depression 610 to allow for flush assembly of a separate personalized flat piece to the top surface.

Although the present invention has been described in accordance with the embodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that there could be variations to the embodiments. For example, the sidewall 300 could include several ribs 305 or relief features 310. Additionally, the rib 305 or relief 310 profiles could be unsubstantially modified to attain similar performance. Additionally, the lid 100 could be designed without the guide 315 but with reduced centering and assembly capability. Those variations would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 

1. A reusable, flexible beverage lid comprising: a cover portion having a generally circular periphery comprising: a drink opening adjacent to the periphery; and a general pooling feature to capture and allow drainage of any fluids not drank by the user; general vent holes to allow steam to escape and drainage from the pool feature; and a flexible outer sidewall which is homogeneously integrated with the cover portion and generally consistent circumferentially, wherein its profile enables easy assembly and sealing against varying dimensioned beverage containers, against the generally consistent outer rim surface of various sizes of beverage containers, consisting of: a surface area sufficient to comfortably and confidently push the lid onto beverage containers; a sidewall cross section which translates the vertical force into horizontal deflection and tensile stress into a sealing radial force without excessively collapsing vertically before establishing a seal; at least one rib which is longitudinally offset from the underside of the lid allowing further flexibility as the offset increases. The generally circular cross section of the rib allows for easy assembly and resistance to unseating of the lid during or after assembly due to tensile stress within the stretched profile of the lid; a sidewall with an outer profile which has a relief feature accommodating collapse of the outer wall which allows further flexibility of the inner sealing rib within acceptable assembly efforts; a guide feature enabling centering during assembly and an inherently obvious feature for the user to grasp during assembly; a rim seat where the lid sits onto the rim of the beverage container; an inner wall which provides circumferential and radial stiffness when the outer sidewall is being stretched during assembly consisting of: an inner seating feature that enables centering during assembly and an additional sealing surface; an inner baffle that minimizes beverage splash against the sealing surfaces. This lid can be scaled radially to allow further versatility
 2. A lid of claim 1 which has retention features for a circumferential band wrapping around the purely cylindrical portion of the cover portion.
 3. A lid of claim 1 which has a sufficient depression on the top face of the cover to allow for flush assembly of a separate personalized flat piece.
 4. A reusable flexible elastomer lid of claim 1, 2, or
 3. 